


Madame, That's Not A Hedgehog

by GenerallyHuxurious (GallifreyanOmnishambles)



Series: Kylux Animal Welfare AU [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Veterinarians, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Animal Abuse, Animal Death, Animal Rescue, Animal Welfare AU, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Kissing, Awkward Romance, Bats, Bottom Armitage Hux, Cats, Dog Fighting, Dogs, First Time, Flower Crowns, Foreplay, Gentle Sex, Horses, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Nausea, Nudity, Past Violence, Pets, Sheep, Sleep Deprivation, Slow Romance, Stitches, Top Kylo Ren, Violence, demisexual hux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-12 19:06:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7945753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GallifreyanOmnishambles/pseuds/GenerallyHuxurious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armitage Hux is an animal welfare officer with First Order Animal Rescue, one of the biggest animal charities in the world, he spends his days saving animals and his nights home alone with his three-legged rescue cat Millicent. Kylo Ren's mother helped him open a private wildlife clinic in the hope that he'd stop causing international incidents in the name of animal rights. Hux hasn't had a date in six years and Kylo's been trying to work out how to ask him out for the last four. Now he might have spotted his chance...</p><p>An art/fic trade with NeoMelodrama.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Christmas & The Vernal Equinox

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that due to the nature of animal welfare work there will be mentions of animal cruelty.

The call centre was its usual buzzing hive of activity, regardless of the festive date.

"First Order Animal Welfare, you're speaking to Tiaan Thanisson, how may I help you?"

As chief operating manager Mitaka had long since perfected the art of watching the incoming call board with one eye whilst the other tracked his various staff in the field. Right now he was dealing with his best, and most frustrating, officer. He had a pen in one hand blindly taking shorthand notes, a neglected turkey sandwich in the other and Armitage Hux screaming at him through his headset. Normally he wished the call handlers around him would learn some volume control, but right now anything that might drown out the wall of misdirected rage assaulting his ear would be a good thing. It was a relief to let Thanisson's voice distract him whilst Hux calmed down.

"Yes Sir, we are open today, that's how you're talking to me right now." Thanisson continued with a smirk. He caught Mitaka's gaze and rolled his eyes dramatically. Mitaka shook his head disapprovingly. "We're open to help animals in need twenty four hours a day, seven days a week... Yes Sir, I know today is Christmas but it is still a day of the week... Well I'm sorry to hear you think that, Sir. Do you have an animal related complaint or emergency? Oh you don't? Well, I'll have to ask you to free up the line as we do have calls waiting and every second counts in an emergen... Oh. He hung up. Dopheld?"

Raising an eyebrow Mitaka pointed to his headset.

"Hux still hasn't calmed down? Oh well, hang in there!" Thanisson laughed, giving him a sarcastic thumbs up. "Anyway, stick another tally on the 'rang to check we're open' chart would you? ...First Order Animal Rescue, you're speaking to..."

It was the same every year- half of their callers were always surprised that they were open at Christmas even though the worst emergencies always seemed to happen during national holidays. There was something about the mix of bad weather, festive spirit and closed businesses that created a perfect storm of endless disasters, Christmas doubly so. If Dopheld Mitaka could have one wish it'd be to spend every Christmas for the rest of of his life on a deserted tropical island. Though knowing his luck he'd probably still end up rescuing a cat from a palm tree.

Every year there was the same parade of dogs poisoned by chocolate tree decorations; panic over cats eating decorative poinsettias; horses breaking their legs on ice; worries about livestock left unattended; not to mention his least favourite -and the current focus of Officer Hux' rage- animals given as gifts.

"They'd wrapped the carry case and hidden it in the wardrobe two days ago! TWO DAYS that cat was in there, 'Pheld!! AND they're saying they had the breeder not feed it for two days before that- ‘just in case it messed'. All so the kids could have a 'proper surprise like _Lady and The Tramp_ '. Oh yeah, 'Merry Christmas kids! Surprise! It’s an almost dead kitten!' Idiots!"

"But the vet says it's going to be ok?" Mitaka cut in before the ranting could begin afresh. The top of his screen was blinking red. A high priority emergency and Hux was closest. He wouldn't be happy.

"He says if she makes it through tonight she has a good chance. I've slapped a seizure order on her and sent the initial details to the police. The vet will call into you guys if there's an update."

"Ok good, because I'm sorry to say it's time to get on the road again," Mitaka said carefully. "You've got your heavy duty, wet weather gear in the van, right?"

"Oh God," Hux knew that tone, this wouldn't be good. "Where am I going?"

"Fire service is requesting assistance- elderly gentleman has taken his dog for an early morning, cliff-top walk..."

"Oh no."

"... the dog has then decided to chase some grazing sheep..."

"Please no."

"... Man, dog and three sheep have gone over the cliff and they're stuck about 20 feet down..."

"I hate you."

"The man was using an extending dog lead at the time and by the sounds of it all five individuals are pretty badly tangled. In addition to, you know, being trapped on a cliff."

"Fuck my life."

"Police and fire service in attendance with coastguard and RNLI on standby. I'm sending the location to your pad right now."

"Wonderful."

"Merry Christmas, Hux."

"Bite me."

* * *

It was well past sunset when he finally made it home, the blinking of the fairy lights across the street the only illumination as he fitted his key into the lock. He never bothered to decorate his own home. As one of the few single officers in the field he always worked Christmas to give the others a chance to see their families. If it helped him forget that he was ending another year alone he never admitted to it.

"Prrrp?"

"Why are people so stupid, Milli?"

His ginger cat didn't answer though she hopped up onto the hall table to rub her forehead against his cold fingertips.

She'd been the subject of his first conviction, the case that had made him certain that joining the animal welfare organisation had been the best possible decision after the Army let him go.

He'd been miserable when he found her, still coming to terms with the shoulder injury that had ended his dream career in the Blues and Royals horse guard. Following the police into that dank little flat he'd tried not to stare at the ambulance crew working to help the little girl with the broken ribs and the woman with blood pouring down her face. The kitten had peed in the wrong place and the dad, an alcoholic with anger management issues, had snapped. The neighbours said he'd thrown the cat at the wall before he'd started in on the girl and her mother. The police were trying to get as many charges against him as possible- so they'd called in the First Order to get an official opinion on the sad pile of ginger fur resting on the threadbare carpet.

Hux had wanted to scream then, staring at that pathetic little mass of fluff, the sounds of human misery behind him. He'd been so angry. The kitten hadn't even been old enough to be away from its mum, of course it had had a bathroom accident. What kind of monster lashed out over that? It was just an excuse for violence.

He couldn't do anything to help the people- he'd applied for the police and failed the physical- but he could help convict the man who'd caused so much pain to his own family.

It was hard to take the necessary photographs of the broken and bloody little body. This was the first serious abuse case he'd handled on his own and he wanted to get it right. His hands had shook as he tried to turn it over to see the other injuries. Then a pink sandpapery tongue had rasped over his thumb and he'd fallen in love. She'd been so small, and the needs of injured humans had been so urgent that no one had realised she was still alive. It had been a scramble then to keep her that way.

He’d driven her to the emergency vet wrapped in a towel in his lap and visited for hours every day after they'd had to amputate her shattered front leg. In the end she'd spent a lot of her recovery curled up asleep inside his shirt.

The vibration of her purrs against his chest had healed something in him. He'd calmed down then, stopped thinking about the Army and what he would have been doing if he hadn't left. Instead he'd set out to work each day determined to do his best and eager to see the little ball of fluff that had made hope seem possible again.

There'd been no question of anyone else adopting her after the trial concluded– he was Millicent's human just as much as she was his cat.

But now he was beginning to worry that she might not be enough to take the loneliness out of his life. Six years with the charity and not a single date in all that time. He was just too busy and the work was too solitary. At least the Army had given him lots of opportunities to meet other men. Now he rarely met anyone for more than half an hour, other than the vets and other animal specialists.

As he stripped out of his muddy uniform in the hall to protect the carpets, he tried to picture the people he worked with regularly. But he soon put a stop to that thought process. Who wanted to be chatted up at work? Besides, he'd never really seen any sign that any of them were gay, except for the strange gang out at the R.E.N centre...

Millicent wound around his legs, purring like a engine. She knew her human's moods and she didn't like him to get too introspective.

Distracted, Hux shook his head and wandered into the kitchen in his boxers in search of food.

He ate his microwaved Christmas dinner in the bath, the plate resting on his chest as he tried to ease the cold out of his bones, Millicent perched by his head in the hope of stealing some scraps. The bulb had blown so he'd lit the room with candles, too bone-weary to find the ladder and fix it.

Through the wall to the next house he could hear Poe and his student tenants winding down their annual party. The distorted glow of the other neighbour's fairy lights flickered through the frosted window and glittered on the surface of the bubbles around his knees.

Somehow it all made his house seem empty and desolate. This year he felt far more alone than usual. Perhaps he was just getting old. Perhaps he'd finally reached the limit of human solitude.

It'd soon be time to make some New Year's resolutions.

"Don't be alone next Christmas," he said aloud, as if that made the resolution binding. It sounded doable. It was ambiguous too, if he didn't find a romantic partner then joining Poe for one of his parties would count. Anything but sitting here in the dark by himself.

Millicent nudged his wet hair. He gave her a strip of turkey.

"Of course I'm never alone with you Mil! But it'd just be nice to be the one who snuggles up in someone else's lap for once." He sighed and leaned over the side of the bath to place the plate on the floor. "You finish that, I'm going to wash my hair and then we'll go watch Die Hard with some mulled wine, yeah?"

* * *

Vernal equinox.

The birth of spring.

A good day for new beginnings.

Yes, definitely the best time to grab the universe by the horns. Or so Kylo tried to tell himself as he tramped across the wet grass towards the kennel blocks.

There he was- the object of his distant affection and mild obsession for the last four years- Armitage Hux, sitting in the wet grass, wearing his greatcoat like a cape and using the bottom edge to shield his uniform from the moisture. He had a tablet in one hand and a collection of handwritten notes draped over the English Mastiff dozing with its head on his boots.

Kylo stopped to admire the spring sunshine in his neatly gelled red hair and the perfect straightness of his posture. Just because Hux had never noticed him didn't mean that he couldn't notice Hux. And there were so many wonderful things about him to notice.

Well, today was the day to get himself noticed for once. He'd practiced this in the shower for weeks. It had to work.

"What can you tell me about this dog?" He asked, pointing to the Irish Setter he'd come to see. The staff at the front desk had already told him all about it and he'd visited so often they just gave him the key now, but it seemed like a reasonably normal opening gambit.

"I don't work here, I just have an office in the building. You'll have to ask the shelter staff." Hux said without looking up or even turning his head.

"I did." Not entirely a lie. "They said you were especially knowledgeable on this particular dog."

Hux glanced towards him and noted the direction of his finger. "That's Saber. He was stolen from a garden and used in a dog fighting ring. The original owners couldn't cope with him when the police finally got him back so we've been rehabilitating him. He's not a suitable dog for beginners. He won't come to you."

"I don't really think I qualify as a beginner, Hux."

Turning properly to look at his face Hux sighed. "Oh, it's you. Don't you have enough animals at that mad sanctuary of yours?" He looked again, frowning. "Nice flower crown by the way."

"Thanks, one of my Knights made it," Kylo said with a grin as Hux rolled his eyes at the title. "We've only wild animals at the sanctuary at the moment, the occasional pet comes through the hospital but they don't stay. So I thought it was time to give a loving home to an unwanted or difficult pet. It's gets lonely up there when the Knights go to their room for the night."

"I don't need to know about the private lives of your polyamorous army of vets, thank you, Kylo." Hux replied, his nose wrinkling in distaste. "Are you sure you're going to be able to offer a stable environment for Saber? You're not going to go off on yet another international crusade and leave him behind?"

He had shifted around to face him now, watching intently as Kylo unlocked the pen in the middle of the block. It was an awkward position with the elderly Emperor still asleep on his foot but he had to see this. As far as he knew Saber hadn't come out of his run except for Hux in all the months since his rescue.

"Don't be stupid, you know the government took my passport after the thing with the whalers." Kylo said as he crouched down and clicked his tongue towards the shaggy red dog hiding in its bed.

"By the 'thing with the whalers' do you mean the whole 'burning a research vessel at the quayside while the crew was at lunch' _thing_?" He asked with a smirk.

Hux had known Kylo for as long as he'd been running his Animal Centre for Rescue, Empowerment & Nurture on the edge of town. He'd first appeared four years ago, causing a stir with his ragtag collection of vaguely gothy looking assistants. Word had soon got around that the huge young man was actually the son of Leia Organa MP- minor Royal, Opposition Leader and member of parliament for the district. Of course he called himself Kylo Ren now - the centre's awkward name being chosen as an acronym of his surname - and he was far more muscular than skinny little Benjamin Organa-Solo had ever been, but no amount of long hair and eyeliner was going to draw attention away from those distinctive ears. Rumour had it that Organa had funded the animal centre and the training of Kylo's vets as a way to keep him out of trouble. The incident with the whalers, as well as several other unsubstantiated tales of extreme violence against animal abusers, had nearly caused an international incident. Kylo represented the sort of embarrassment that could easily end a politician's career. Better to keep him distracted in a small town where the national press might not notice him.

Kylo had always been helpful to the First Order and the individual officers, though he was always vocal about the need for the charity to take its animal rights activism a few steps further than they currently did.

For the most part Hux indulged his rants and wild conspiracy theories- it was a small price to pay for access to discounted veterinary care and boarding when their own centres were full to bursting. While he didn’t share his belief that wide reaching change could be enacted over night, he did admire Kylo's enthusiasm and, as Saber ran into his arms like he was an old friend, he also had to admit that the man did have a way with animals.

"They never proved anything," Kylo said darkly as Saber bounced around him, sniffing the pockets of his too-tight jeans looking for treats or a ball to chase. "It's hard to say how a fire started when the evidence is under fifty feet of water."

He eased himself back to his full height, pulling a ball from his pocket and carefully showing it to the dog before he threw it. Clearly he understood Saber's natural reaction to sudden movements. Hux was impressed. At his side Emperor cracked an eye open and rolled onto his back, considering whether the game was worth the effort.

Hux was distracted for a moment by the scattering of his papers. Later he'd admit that he simply hadn't expected the arthritic old Mastiff to be interested. He was at the end of his lifespan, one of the elderly high-maintenance pets who came to the charity to live out their last days in peace. Hux would never have expected him to want to play with the skittish young Setter.

Emperor was on his paws and running before Hux had the time grab his collar.

A dog of Emperor's massive size heading directly for a dog that had been forced to fight- it should have been a disaster. It should have ended with one or both dogs on their way to the vet with bite wounds. It didn't.

Hux stared open mouthed as Kylo stepped smartly between the two dogs, halting their progress with a word and a gesture. A minute of calm, quiet murmuring later and both dogs were laid out in the grass with him, enjoying head scritches. The ball had vanished. Clearly Kylo had realised that the game had too many risks, but the pair of touch starved animals didn't seem to mind since they were still being lavished with attention.

"Okay, so how long have you been visiting Saber?" Hux asked, a little grumpily. He didn't know why Kylo's opening lie irritated him so much. It felt like a game when the man could have just started with honesty.

"A few months," Kylo said with a shrug that made his shirt suddenly seem too tight across his chest. "They want to be sure I'm in control of him before they let me formalise the adoption. Obviously, they know I spend a lot of time with ani..."

His words were briefly drowned out by a burst of orchestral music. Hux swore and dived towards his abandoned greatcoat. The swearing continued as he tried and failed to find his mobile phone before the music stopped.

"Is... Is your ringtone a classical cover of _Killing In The Name Of_?" Kylo laughed when the tune started afresh.

"Shush!" Hux hissed, finally pulling the phone free of an inner pocket. "Ah fuck, it's ten past. I've missed the start of my shift! Hello, Dopheld? Yeah sorry, look..."

Kylo felt a little guilty that he'd distracted Hux enough to make him late. He'd been hoping to seduce the man and instead Hux was going to be pissed off. Clicking his tongue to the dogs he led them both back into their respective pens, conscientiously closing the locks before he turned to gather up the papers that had been scattered by Emperor's unexpected movement. If it put him in a position to eavesdrop then all the better.

"Sorry Kylo, I need to get going," Hux said, accepting the proffered stack of papers with an apologetic smile. "I'm already late for my first job and it's just going to knock on to the rest..."

"Did Control just say sickly baby hedgehogs in the village? Because I could ride along with you and then take them back to R.E.N. That'd save you some time, right?" He asked hopefully.

Hux stared at him, considering.


	2. Hedgehogs, Lambs & Dogs

"Thank you very much, Ms Kanata," Hux said, tipping his hat whilst he tried to edge out of the old woman's kitchen before she offered him a cup of tea. Maz Kanata could talk anyone's ear off given the opportunity and Hux really didn't have time for her today.

"Always lovely to see you, Armitage," she said, turning to peer through her thick glasses at Kylo where he hovered just outside the door, "and your lovely young lady here. What pretty flowers!"

"Bye now!" Hux called over his shoulder as he dragged Kylo down the garden path and back towards the van.

With the cardboard box Maz had given him balanced precariously in one hand, he held the gate open with his hip so that Kylo could squeeze through. For some reason this took longer than it should have done. Eyes wide he forced himself to look away when he realised that the body pressed against his own was almost all muscle.

The phone rang again. "Hi. Yeah, nothing to be concerned about, just the usual." Hux paused, listening with a deepening frown. "Trapped sheep? Can't they get the farmer to... He's in hospital? Okay well how long will the fire service be... Well, I do have someone with me who might be able to help... Kylo from the wildlife sanctuary. Yeah, I know it's not policy but he offered to take the hedgies from Ms Kanata and obviously... Of course I'll brief him..." He paused with the phone held away from his ear and turned to Kylo, his voice louder than strictly necessary to be sure Mitaka heard him, "you're here as a representative of R.E.N. right? The First Order takes no responsibility for any injury or loss you might sustain as a result of assisting me today, right?"

"Yes, Hux!" Kylo said in a singsong tone, leaning towards the phone and into Armitage's personal space.

"Hear that?" Hux said a little snidely as he returned the phone to his ear. "He's on the books, everyone there is, just log it, I'll do the paperwork tomorrow. Yeah, you too."

Kylo tried to give the redhead a reassuring grin as he hung up but only received a glare in return.

"And take that thing off."

"Awww..." Kylo groaned, pulling the flower crown loose from his hair.

"Better," Hux nodded, "you can't do official business looking like you're at a festival. Come on, we're going up onto the moors. Walkers have found a ewe trapped down a gully and two lambs trying to join her. I'd like to get to this job before it turns into three sheep in a gully."

Kylo loped along beside Hux as he stomped towards his van, easily keeping pace with his military stride.

"What about the hedgehogs?"

Glancing around Hux smirked and threw him the box.

It bounced for a moment between Kylo's massive hands, surprising a muttered curse from him as he struggled to catch it.

The box was far lighter than he'd have expected for the sick hedgehog and four hoglets that the tiny old woman had described. It was also making a disconcerting rattling noise. He glanced at the still smirking Hux. The officer just shrugged and climbed into the driver’s seat.

Kylo opened the lid.

He laughed.

"I thought you'd be angrier at a prank like that!" He said, folding his large frame into the passenger seat and trying to find a space for his feet amongst the detritus of papers and animal food packets filling the footwell.

"You saw her glasses, it wasn't a prank." Hux shrugged. "I've got a lot of time for her. Yes, based on her previous history there's always about a 20% chance that she'll call us out for a non-emergency but she has no family, and she's already bequeathed her estate to the charity, so it's worth attending for the other 80%."

"But... Really... Who mistakes a pine cone and four horse chestnut shells for hedgehogs?!"

"You'd be amazed."

"She said she'd been feeding them!"

"Yep."

"Wow."

* * *

It was surprisingly pleasant, climbing up the moors from the nearest access road with Kylo at his side. Usually he was out here alone, trudging along poorly signposted trails following vague and confusing directions. He had a large region assigned to him- hundreds of square miles- and he couldn't possibly know every landmark or feature. Kylo apparently could. He'd recognised the area described by the caller and was happily leading them directly across the vast, heather-covered moorland like a giant scenthound. Hux envied him. Not least because he was carrying all the kit whilst Kylo walked with both empty hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his jeans.

"Do you get a lot of calls about sheep?" Kylo asked suddenly, apparently uncomfortable with the silence Hux had found companionable.

"Don't you?"

"R.E.N. doesn't deal with livestock often. My Knights have ethical objections. I'd rather use our funds to help those animals that don't already have humans assigned to care for them."

Hux raised an eyebrow. "Our goal is to reduce suffering. If an animal's distress can be reduced sooner by my attending immediately rather than waiting for the farmer to show up then I will. Sometimes we charge them for it, sometimes we press charges against them."

"There's a thousand people in your charity, R.E.N is just the seven of us."

"Point."

The silence returned as Armitage mulled over Kylo's comment. He did appreciate the support staff. He valued not needing to make every telephone call and scheduling decision himself. It left him free to do the important work. He wondered how much of Kylo's life went into the administration of his little organisation. And why he seemed so happy to waste his time tramping about the countryside with Hux.

Subtly he tried to glance at him out of the corner of his eye but Kylo was far enough ahead now that all he could see was the wide expanse of his back and the extremely flattering cut of his jeans. Blushing slightly Hux turned his eyes back to the path and sought a distraction.

"We do get a lot of sheep calls," he said, returning to Kylo's original question. "Most livestock calls are from urban people who don't know anything about farm animals- worries about cows lying down and horses wearing fly rugs in the summer. It's amazing how many people genuinely think that big animals can't get up on their own. But sheep, sheep are special. They wander over such vast distances and they do such ridiculous things that most distressed sheep calls are genuine. Most of them."

Kylo stopped and turned at the odd tone of Hux' last comment. "It sounds like there's a story there."

"Some daft old bastard called in once and said he'd found a sheep on its back but he couldn't right it by himself." Hux began, kicking a stone across the moor as he passed Kylo, unwilling to break the rhythm of his steps now they were approaching the appropriate grid reference. "And of course they eventually suffocate on their backs so it's a drop everything emergency. I walked two HOURS up these hills with him. We finally get to the sheep and he'd lied to Control. He hadn't bloody tried to turn it over on his own. He hadn't even gone into the field. You'll never guess what the damn thing was?"

Kylo licked his lips, dragging his eyes away from Hux' long legs. "What?"

"A Victorian claw-footed enamel bathtub. A fucking bath. Upside down. In a field."

Kylo laughed as he ran to catch up, one hand clapping over his mouth at Hux's grumpy look. "No!"

"Four hours walking to rescue a bath."

"Ok, I can see why you didn't mind the pine cone now!"

On the horizon a flash of yellow appeared. A young woman in hiking gear was waving her hi-vis vest like a flag. The two broke into a run as they hurried to meet her.

* * *

The ewe wasn't immobilised in the gully- she could still move freely which was a blessing. But she was frantic about her lambs, the pair of them running back and forth bleating piteously and driving their poor mother to exhaustion.

Hux soon spotted a route out of the gully that'd be easy enough to haul her up on his own. If only she'd stand still long enough for him to get a rope around her shoulders. It had been Ren's idea to catch both lambs and hold them at the top of the gully to encourage the ewe climb up with Hux' help to meet them. Hux had left him to it.

Lambs are small, springy and a lot more agile than a man of Kylo's bulk could possibly be. It was unlikely that he'd catch both of them, but even one would be helpful.

Hux tried to ignore the thundering of feet through the heather and the occasional burst of laughter as the two young hikers tried to help Kylo tackle the fluff balls who had taken the whole thing to be a game. One of the girls was flirting with him and for some reason it was bringing Hux' shoulders up around his ears. Like something out of the intro to a terrible 1970s porn film they were both tall, blonde, and incredibly, they were actually Swedish. It was like the hat trick of bad porn stereotypes. He tried to concentrate on the ropes he was fastening to the rocks and suddenly docile ewe but every time he thought he'd tuned them out he heard Kylo's deep voice and lost focus.

"I've got them."

Armitage felt his eyebrows rise unbidden in surprise. He'd actually managed it. Though of course, if he spent most days wrangling wild animals it made sense that he'd be able to do it.

From the bottom of the gully all Hux could see was two small brown wooly faces staring down at him. The ewe bleated and began the climb on her own. Hux hauled on the rope and he followed her, his free hand pushing her rump ahead of him. For most of the journey she blocked his view and he was able to concentrate on the combination of pushing and pulling needed to help her up the steep rocks. Until she got caught at the top, her feet scrabbling at the loose earth.

When he shifted position to get a shoulder under her Kylo finally came into view. He had a small lamb clutched in each hand, their wriggling bodies clamped between his impossibly bulky arms and, oh god, his rippling, muscular, inexplicably naked chest. He was ripped. He was gorgeous. He had, somewhere under the smears of mud and lanolin, an actual eight pack stomach.

Hux had heard the phrase 'not now boner' but it had never applied so much to his life before this moment. Where the fuck had Kylo’s shirt gone?!

Kylo blushed. The pink travelled all the way to his belly button. Hux gaped.

His brain malfunctioned.

If the ewe hadn't chosen that precise moment to kick him in the ribs and remind him that they were both hanging fifteen feet up a rocky incline he'd probably have let go of the rope in sheer disbelief at the sight before him.

Fortunately the kick brought him back to his senses and within another minute the three sheep were running off into the distance, eager to get away from the strange humans.

"Our hostel is near here, if you'd like to come back to shower."

Hux rolled his eyes. Well, this was clearly where his pleasant morning with Kylo ended. He kept his head down and focused on repacking his equipment.

"Oh well, uh, thanks, ummm, yeah," Kylo mumbled, his words halting and awkward. "Thanks, but I need to stay with Officer Hux for the rest of the day."

That made Hux frown. He didn't need to do anything, he was here as a favour.

"I can give you my number, maybe?" The woman continued, her voice getting a little more breathy, much to Armitage's irritation. "I could take you out for a drink, as a reward for your bravery..."

"Sorry, I'm gay."

Oh.

_OOOOOH!_

Hux missed the rest of the conversation, his brain too busy screaming and throwing confetti to follow the sounds of the woman making her embarrassed exit and her laughing friend apologising to Kylo. He did notice the second woman giving him a wink and a thumbs up but his brain was too addled to react until she'd disappeared over the hillside.

The walk back to the car was conducted in silence. They made good time heading down hill now that Kylo had volunteered to carry some of the equipment. Though Hux suspected that they were aided by the fact that his feet didn't seem to be touching the ground.

* * *

The next few jobs were simple enough- a house visit to some dogs the neighbours thought had been abandoned; a swan tangled in fishing line; an emergency funding request for a cat that had been hit by a car; a peacock attacking windows in an upmarket housing estate.

Kylo trailed after him as he found the dogs carer and gave them advice; he helped to free the swan and comfort the cat; and he even managed not to laugh as Hux explained that the randy feral peacock was trying to fight its own reflection having mistaken it for a rival.

Armitage was impressed with him and told him so with a small smile as they headed to the last job of the day.

It was one of the difficult ones, a follow up visit to an individual Hux had met far too many times before. They could smell the yard before they reached it, the stench of too many dogs living too close together was so strong it was almost a physical entity. Wrinkling his nose in distaste, Hux signalled for Kylo to stand well back and carefully turned on his body cam.

"Mr Rodinon?" He shouted over the fence from a few feet back. Instantly the air filled with a cacophony of barking.

"Fuck off!"

"Now, now, Mr Rodinon," Hux called, "you know regular visits were part of the agreement to let you keep some of the dogs. Either let me in or I'll get the police to let me in."

"The dogs are fine. Go away! Go on, fuck off!"

Staying against the wall where Hux had indicated Kylo could feel his fingers twitching, trying to form fists against his better judgement. He could already hear it in the man's tone. He was one of those harsh, vicious brutes that owned animals but had no compassion for them. The ones that inevitably did something that made Kylo lose control. He shouldn't be here.

"Then let me see them."

"What part of 'fuck off' do you not understand?"

Hux eased his phone out of his pocket and fiddled with the screen for a moment. He didn't raise it to his ear though, just held it by his side. Kylo frowned for a moment before he realised that it must have been on speaker.

"What I don't understand, Mr Rodinon, is why you won't let me in if your dogs are fine," Hux said sharply, "of course, if they're not _fine_ then I'll have to get the police out here to take them away, as per the original court order. Now are you..."

The bolt snapped back and the tall metal gate was hauled roughly open. A large, disheveled man with thinning red hair glared at Hux as he blocked the entrance. He didn't seem to notice Kylo where he waited across the alleyway.

"See," he said belligerently, nodding his head behind him, "they're fine."

Hux leaned closer to peer around him. "Sir, the court order limited you to a maximum of six dogs, there has to be at least twenty in here."

"I'm watching 'em. For a friend."

"I really don't believe that, Mr Rodi..."

At that moment an emaciated looking pitbull tried to make an escape between the man's legs. What happened next must have been muscle memory. No one with an ounce of sense would have kicked a dog in front of a First Order officer. Perhaps Rodinon didn't have any sense. The bitch fell back into the yard and collapsed whining onto her side.

Kylo felt his vision misting over, literally seeing red as the rage he fought so hard to suppress rose up in response to the man's casual cruelty.

"I've seen enough!" Hux spat. "Mitaka, get the police up here, right no..."

Rodinon hit him, splitting his lip and sending him down onto one knee. Kylo dived forward, determined to give the man the beating he so clearly deserved but Hux caught the back of his jeans, dragging him back just as gate slammed in both their faces.

Shaking Hux off Kylo surged forward again, throwing his whole weight against the entrance.

"Kylo, no, stop it," Hux hissed, staggering to his feet and grabbing the taller man's broad shoulders. "I've got it on camera, he knows we're allowed to film him during visits, he's just handed us everything we need to prove he broke the court order, plus he just assaulted me."

Sirens were approaching in the distance when Kylo finally turned from his attack on the gate to face him.

Hux took a step back.

The man he'd spent the day with had certainly been odd but he'd been sort of sweet, witty and charming in a relaxed, roguish sort of way. He was not the seething ball of rage standing in front of him now. Of course Hux had heard the stories: the burnt out whaling vessel; the stabbed cockfight ringleader; the smashed up cosmetics lab. He'd thought they were just stories, minor incidents that had been blown out of proportion over time. Now he suddenly believed every word.

Kylo's face was flushed, his jaw and shoulders tense as he breathed hard through his nose. Teeth bared and his eyes barely more than slits he looked terrifying, the sheer muscular bulk of him no longer seeming awkward but deadly instead.

The sirens were almost at the end of the street now.

Something clicked in Hux' brain and he found himself speaking in the sharp no-nonsense tones of command that he hadn't used properly in years. "Go and sit in the van. Now. I need to speak to the police. You need to calm down."

Amazingly Kylo turned and went without a word. Hux sagged back against the fence, trying to slow his breathing while he cradled his aching jaw. Blood dripped slowly through his fingers. He hadn't even realised he was bleeding.


	3. Blood, Mud & Water

It took two hours for him to sort out the mess around the arrest of Firmus Rodinon and the removal of all twenty seven of the dogs he'd been keeping in his yard. The police seized all the dogs on suspicion of being dangerous banned breeds with the exception of a litter of bichon frise puppies and their mother that went to an Order kennel. Hux had wanted to take them himself, eager to get back to the van and speak to Kylo. The police hadn't allowed it though, insisting he get someone from the shelter to collect them whilst he made his statement and handed over his body cam.

They'd even wanted to call an ambulance for him to be checked out officially for the assault charge. By the time he'd persuaded them he was fit to drive himself to the hospital and returned to his van Kylo was gone.

The dashboard was covered in the wilted, shredded remains of his flower crown and a hastily scrawled note.

**[ Hux- went home. Hospital will assume I hit you if I go with you. Sorry- K ]**

Picking at the scattered flower petals Armitage wondered if the stress Kylo had been relieving by destroying it was aimed at him or Rodinon. And whether it mattered. He was clearly unstable. Did Hux really want that in his life?

It took another four hours to get through the Accident & Emergency department, sitting in cramped waiting rooms and listening silently as people complained about the lack of work the First Order did every time they recognised his uniform. Almost all of their complaints stemmed from the limits of the legal system or the fact that another non-charity organisation was responsible for the source of their irritation. It was frustrating to sit there and be abused but years of experience had taught him that arguing back was pointless. Especially in the hospital where everyone was stressed and hurting. Better to keep quiet.

They sent him home with a bag full of anti-inflammatories and antibiotics, a copy of the X-ray showing the hairline fracture to his jaw and instructions to come back in a few days to get the stitches removed from his lip. He hadn't realised the wound had been that bad, he'd been too focused on getting Kylo to keep it together.

Hux video-called Control, hoping to catch Mitaka before he left for the evening. Instead he got Unamo, the night shift manager, who took one look at his bruised, swollen face and signed him off for a week. He hated time off and this was the last thing he needed. But as the building headache finally caught up with him he had to admit she might be right.

He spent the night on his sofa, sharing a pepperoni pizza with Millicent and mindlessly watching a marathon of Queer As Folk. Too sore to sleep his mind kept on drifting back to the question of Kylo. The day had been pleasant, and although Kylo hadn't done anything obviously flirtatious, apart from mysteriously losing his shirt, there was something to be said for the fact that he'd joined him at all. He was certainly attractive. Thinking longer term, Kylo understood his work better than most people might- asking him out on a date wouldn't bring the usual anxiety around explaining antisocial shift patterns and mud streaked uniforms.

Hux tipped his head back onto the sofa arm and groaned. _Yes Armitage,_ he thought bitterly, _let's begin a potential romantic endeavour with a careful weighing of the logistics, shall we? Why are you like this, you massive prick?! Why don't you compile a spreadsheet about it as well and make your reputation as a human automaton complete? What would someone as passionate as Kylo Ren want with you? He was wearing a flower crown for god’s sake! When was the last time you did anything whimsical?!_

Slumping down onto the cushions and hugging Milli against his chest Hux wondered if he should give up the entire endeavour as a lost cause.

* * *

The first day of his sick leave was spent catching up on all his First Order paperwork, then filing, then email, voicemail, cleaning the crap out of his work van, washing the van, restocking the van, valeting his personal car, laundering and repairing his uniform, polishing every pair of boots he owned and changing the batteries in all his electronics. By 8pm he was exhausted from lack of sleep and dozing off into his takeaway curry.

At least he'd only thought about Kylo Ren 133 times since breakfast.

The second day he woke half hard from a dream of Kylo covered in puppies.

The puppies had been pink.

He wasn't sure what it meant but he didn't really want to take any more of his pain meds, just in case. In an attempt to distract himself he spent the day cleaning. Every room was vacuumed, scrubbed, mopped and polished to within an inch of its life.

Millicent had taken one look at the vacuum cleaner and deserted him in favour of the peace of the garden.

At 4pm, bored out of his mind and seriously considering colour coding his sock drawer just to pass the time, he wandered out to join her.

The garden wasn't much, a square of paving slabs littered with the overgrown collection of plant pots a long gone former boyfriend had planted to "brighten up the place". Hux had rarely been back from the Army often enough to see them flower and now they were full of weeds.

Pottering around in the shed he considered finding some plants to restock them, but he doubted he'd ever get back from this job during enough daylight hours to appreciate it.

Something glittered at the back of one cobweb covered shelf.

It was a plastic bag filled with lengths of wire and a selection of clock parts. He'd no idea where it had come from or why he'd kept it, but as he stared at the rainbow of metallic and oxidised colours he had an idea.

* * *

The building that formed the core of the R.E.N. organisation stood back from the road, its imposing Gothic Revival towers shrouded in the shadows cast by the surrounding wall of sycamore trees. As Hux slammed the door of his Vauxhall Astra a cloud of birds erupted from the the rookery in the trees, cawing and screeching at the intruder. It was like something from a fairy story. Hux couldn't actually imagine Kylo Ren living anywhere else.

He waited for ten minutes on the doorstep, trying not to shift anxiously from foot to foot and second guessing his decision to come here, before someone finally opened the door.

If anyone had ever asked him to describe the so called Knights of R.E.N. in general he'd probably have settled on either 'strange' or 'terrifying'. If he'd been asked to describe Romon Ren in particular he'd have simply googled a picture of Grace Jones. They stared at him, a bland neutral look that suggested they didn't recognise him without the hair gel and the ever present First Order uniform. As if he didn't already feel self-conscious in his far-too-formal shirt and rarely worn jeans.

"Well?"

"I'm here to see Kylo... please?" He added when they didn't move.

"If he did that to your face," they said flatly, waving one latex gloved hand towards the stitches and dark bruises still showing livid beneath his gingery stubble, "then he's not here."

"Uh, no, he didn't hit me," Hux said, raising his own hand self consciously to cover the wound, "I'm Armitage Hux, from the First Order, I wanted to thank him for all his help on Sunday..."

"Oh. Right. You."

Hux narrowed his eyes at them. They followed suit.

He wasn't sure what he'd intended to do next but the entire stand off was thankfully interrupted by a deep, familiar voice shouting "no, no, no!!" at an increasingly loud and frantic volume from somewhere in the compound behind the house. They both turned towards the noise just as it crescendoed with a plaintive "HELP!!"

Romon grabbed him by the bicep and dragged him through the house, muttering darkly about the ways he could make up for 'distracting the boss for the last three days'. Hux was about to object and point out that Kylo had volunteered when they exited the house onto the small patio and into the absolute chaos that had taken over the yard.

There were piglets _everywhere_. Muddy, panicking, squealing, running piglets. Kylo was in the midst of them, on his knees and covered in god-knew-what, desperately trying to herd them back towards the last pen of the block and the sow sleeping inside.

"What the actual fuck?" Hux breathed, his face twisting with the effort not to laugh.

"Hux!" Kylo looked up with a grin, a small pink and black piglet clutched in each hand. "I was thinking about what you said! About helping the animals most in need and this case of some idiot who wanted to breed teacup piglets came up on Faceboo..."

A hand settled menacingly between Hux' shoulder blades. He turned to meet the gaze of the impossibly pale Tanma Ren. "So this is your fault then?"

"Not reall..."

"You should probably go help him, _if this is your fault_." Romon added. Suddenly all six of Kylo's tattooed, pierced, and scarred Knights were surrounding him in a threatening cloud of patchouli scented black scrubs.

His nostrils flared as he drew himself up into proper military posture. "You can all sod off," he said flatly, staring them down.

The tense silence dragged for several long seconds before the effect was spoiled by a squeal, a squelch, and a heartfelt "aww SHIT" behind him.

The tension broke into a wave of laughter as they all turned to see Kylo face down in the mud and now totally bereft of piglets.

Rolling his eyes Hux hopped down off the patio and, in his best military voice, he did what he did best- he took control of the situation.

* * *

It had taken the eight of them almost half an hour and a liberal coating of mud to capture all fourteen wayward piglets. The experience had almost been fun, slipping and sliding around the property in pursuit of adorable squeaking bundles of mischief. Or it would have been if Hux hadn't been intensely aware of the pain in his face and the ruining of his one decent dressy outfit.

Now he was in Kylo's bedroom, waiting for his turn to use the en-suite shower and feeling intensely aware of an overwhelming number of other things. It felt like every time he blinked his mind provided him with another subject to be worried about. Such as the fact that he had no clean clothes with him; or worse- the fact that Kylo was naked and soapy just a few feet away and that he'd soon be in his place; or the mortifying reality of standing in the man's private space and trying not to stare at the stack of Colby Keller porn DVDs peeking out from under the bed.

However, the most pressing concern was probably the growing realisation that he hadn't gotten laid in six damn years and he suddenly had no idea how to cope with being naked in a space occupied by a man this attractive. It was ridiculous. He'd been in the Army! He'd shared showers and quarters with other men for years! And yet, here he was now freaking out like some innocent virgin. Of course, none of those men had been unfairly beautiful, eight-pack-having giants like Kylo Ren, but still... It was embarrassing and it was making him feel out of sorts.

A gust of hot moist air hit the back of his neck as the door to the en-suite opened. The Knights had all headed for a communal shower room on the first floor, but somehow Hux had thought that taking a shower in the privacy of Kylo’s room would be easier.

When he turned to face Kylo, only to discover that the man was towelling his hair and was otherwise completely naked, Hux couldn't be sure whether he should lament that decision.

He glanced down. He couldn't help it.

Instantly he flushed. Fuck, he was huge. And waxed. Hux began to feel dizzy as his blood fought to flood either his face or his groin. Oh god, Kylo was also half hard.

Flustered and slightly baffled by this casual display, Hux turned his face away, staring unseeing at the floor as he willed his own very average sized cock in its nest of unruly and embarrassingly red pubes to stop trying to imitate their host.

"Shower's free." Kylo said, a little redundantly, following Hux' gaze and blushing himself when he spotted the DVDs inexpertly hidden under his bed. And the lube on top of them.

Hux rushed passed him, pulling the door closed behind him with slightly more force than necessary.

Kylo sighed. He'd fucked up. Again.

He'd let his temper get away from him, just after Hux had gotten hurt, and he'd frightened him. Now he had a second chance and he'd embarrassed the man.

It hadn't even occurred to him that he'd been naked. He'd spent so many years living here amongst the collective that he'd forgotten that most people didn't wander around with their cocks out in front of guests. They also didn't leave their masturbatory materials lying around where anyone might see them. What a disaster.

While he was hastily pulling on some briefs and dashing around the room hiding the most incriminating objects, Kylo might have reconsidered Hux’ behaviour if he'd known that the other man was even then stroking himself in a desperate attempt to get rid of the erection he had caused.

As it was they were soon both embarrassed all over again when Hux shuffled back into the room, both hands clutched over the orange splash of pubic hair between his legs, to inform Kylo that he'd taken the only towel. And also, that Hux had no clothes.

Kylo felt his entire body blush as he stared, because thin, wiry, slightly scarred and beautifully golden Hux was everything he'd ever dreamed of. Hux blushed and looked away because he was certain he wasn't.

"Hey," Kylo murmured as he stepped forward to wrap the damp towel around Hux' waist. He couldn't help letting his thumbs skim across the soft flesh of his hips, tipping his head in confusion when Hux didn't turn to meet his gaze. Instead Hux tried to bite at his lip and hissed when his teeth grazed the stitches.

Certain that Hux had a proper grip on the towel Kylo brought his hand up to the other man's chin, turning and lifting his face with infinite care not to disturb the dark bruises. He was surprised by the texture of the short stubble against his fingers. Denser and much sharper than his own ever was, it added an unexpected hardness to the man's seemingly soft lines. Hux only stared at him, the tip of his tongue compulsively pressing at the wound. Kylo’s free hand hovered by his elbow, wanting to touch but rendered uncertain by the unenthusiastic reaction.

"I'm sorry about your face," Kylo said, his voice pitched low and quiet for reasons he couldn't quite understand. "I wish I'd been able to get him back for it."

He leaned in, aiming to press a gentle kiss to the line of stitches, but Hux turned away, forcing his lips to connect with the corner of his mouth instead. Kylo let his eyes drift shut, fascinated by the contrast between the softness of his skin and the bristle of his beard.

"I'm glad you didn't," Hux said flatly, pulling back, "if you had his lawyers might try to spin it as self defence and I'd have had my jaw fractured for nothing. At least this increases our chance of getting him locked up."

He stepped back, his embarrassment at his body increasing now he was so close to Kylo. He'd noticed that the man had tidied his room whilst he was in the shower and some vicious, self-sabotaging part of his brain was beginning to tell him horrible stories about the disappearance of the pornography. Perhaps he'd hidden it because he thought Hux was a sure thing and he didn't want him to realise he wasn't his usual type. Only a few days ago Hux had been thinking of the long term aspects of dating Kylo but maybe he just wanted a casual lay. He knew what he looked like- out of uniform without his hair gel and his near permanent sneer- but he wasn’t some desperate twink looking for a pity fuck.

It wasn't rational. Not five minutes before he'd been imagining Kylo fucking him in the shower and now this. The fact that he had so much pornography of muscular men might not mean anything at all. But standing here, right now, barely dressed and so close to a man he didn't really know... Something in him shut down. He stepped back again, his fingertips resting in the centre of Kylo’s solid chest, and shook his head.

“Can we just... go somewhere, please?” He said, trying to find the authoritative tones he knew would make him feel more like himself and failing miserably.

“Sure, I’ll find you some spare clothes.” Kylo replied, shifting back as if burned, confusion and disappointment flickering across his face. “Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere that isn’t here.” Hux said flatly, turning his back as he accepted the clothes.

They dressed in silence, each of them trying not to give away their uncomfortable thoughts.


	4. Words & Streetlamps

They ended up in the pub half a mile down the road, a big barn-like affair with big cheap meals and big discounts on slightly off beer. Hux liked it. It was warm and anonymous, and it had gotten him away from the oddly oppressive house. The Knights had watched him unblinkingly as they left, their eyes flickering judgmentally over his slim frame swamped by Kylo’s ill-fitting clothes. Here, crammed into a booth with Kylo's leg pressed against his own, he felt less self-conscious about the belt cinched tight about his waist to hold up the borrowed jeans or the way the too-big jumper kept slipping down to reveal the scars along his left shoulder.

He'd left the box in the car, the one with the gift he'd made the night before in a moment of inspiration that now felt more like madness. He was too unsure of himself and the entire situation to even consider handing it over.

They'd eaten mediocre food, then talked for hours over endless coffees because Hux had no intention of getting drunk, not now.

Kylo had been surprisingly easy to talk to, happy to trade war stories of the various rescues they'd been on and animals they'd encountered. The tales of his foreign travels were interesting if one ignored the awkward pauses where he carefully avoided mentioning some questionable act or other that he'd perpetrated in the name of animal rights. Not only that but he listened well, perfectly willing to let Hux rant about his frustrations and to sympathise whenever the topic brushed against his former military career.

He'd fought not to shiver when Kylo's fingers ghosted across the silvery ridges around his shoulder joint, murmuring vague words of explanation to whispered questions. It had lasted only a moment before a loud tut from the neighbouring table had reminded them they were in public. For what felt like the hundredth time that night Hux had tugged the jumper back into place and stared straight ahead.

And that was the problem- every time Hux found himself drawn closer to Kylo, something interrupted the temptation, or else his treacherous mind showed him an image of the DVDs and the kind of men Hux would never look like. Everytime he retreated and that didn’t feel right.

He saw a flash of the anger that had twisted Kylo’s face at Rodinon’s compound then, not aimed at him but rather at the back of the woman who’d voiced her distaste. Somehow the anger didn’t bother him now. He’d been surprised by it, that was all. He looked good like that, powerful, elemental. Hux had been painting Kylo in his mind as some arcadian sprite, blinded by the flowers he’d worn in his hair and his easy way with animals. But he was far more changeable than that- there was a fire deep at his core and Hux knew he’d hate himself if he didn’t try to see it.

Whatever it was that had shut down in Kylo’s room flared back into life. Hux sneered, his posture straightening as he drew himself up. Why the fuck had he let something as mundane as pornography make him question his identity? Yes, he might have narrow sloping shoulders and delicate wrists but, damn it, Kylo only had two inches of height on him and even when he’d been half incoherent with rage he’d followed Hux’ instructions without a thought.

Just as the woman turned towards them again he reached out and caught Kylo’s jaw, pulling him into a lingering kiss that almost gave the ridiculous old biddy a heart attack. Hux was sure she would have objected if he hadn’t dragged Kylo out of the booth then, both of them unfolding to stand a foot taller than her, Kylo’s wide shoulders far more obvious now that they were out of the shadows of the booth. She only gaped at them as Hux gave her a sardonic nod and led Kylo out in the chilly March evening.

It had been petty. And slightly stupid. And a little bit dangerous to do that in an unfamiliar pub where he knew no one. But it had been damn satisfying and he felt more like himself than he had in hours.

“Uh, Hux?” Kylo was standing a few feet behind him, his fingers scrubbing anxiously through his hair. “Not that I minded or anything, and I really didn’t, but uh… what was that?”

“Sorry, that woman just pissed me off,” Hux shrugged, rubbing his thumb over his faintly aching jaw. “And I guess I wanted to see what kissing you felt like.”

Glancing around the car park Kylo sidled closer, staring intently into his eyes in the dim light from the distant street lamps. “And... what did you think? I don’t want to pressure you or anything but I kinda got the impression you weren’t that into me.”

Hux grabbed his hand and started walking them back towards the animal centre.

“I… It was… nice…” He said, not looking at Kylo. “I’d need more data points for a proper analysis. I know I’m probably not your type but…”

Suddenly Kylo stopped dead, forcing Hux to turn with his own momentum or sprain his wrist. He gasped when Kylo wound the fingers of his free hand into his hair and pulled him in for another kiss.

“How about now?”

“Hmmm…. more.”

For a gentle, mostly close-mouthed kiss Hux was surprised to feel his skin tingling along every point of contact with Kylo’s body. How odd that his lip didn’t really hurt, it just felt pleasantly hot where it met Kylo’s skin. Hesitantly he brought his free hand up to wrap around Kylo’s waist, the fingers of their joined hands shifting to lace more completely together.

When Kylo finally pulled back- pausing to press another light peck against the line of stitches- Hux felt like hours had passed. He didn’t let go, instead he leant forward to brush his nose along Kylo’s jaw line.

“Why the fuck would you think you’re not my type?” Kylo asked quietly, failing to keep the exasperation out of his tone. “I’ve been trying to work out how to ask you out for four years, what on earth gave you the impression that…”

“I thought you were into muscular guys- like you.” Hux said against Kylo’s neck, unwilling to make eye contact. “Why else would you have all those DVDs?”

“What?” Kylo pulled back, trying to look at his face but Hux followed him, keeping his expression hidden. “The Colby Keller ones? That’s… That’s not why I have those, he… well, it’s not about him being my type, it’s… Look, have you ever watched any of his videos?”

Hux stared over Kylo’s shoulder for a moment. “I, uh, don’t watch porn. The faces people pull… and the posing...” He paused, his lip curling with extreme distaste. “They’re too distracting.”

“Well, this is different.” Kylo shrugged, easing away and setting off back down to the street, pulling Hux along after him.

After stumbling for a moment he drew level, thankful that his legs were longer than Kylo’s own. Armitage could feel him trembling through their still tangled fingers and, concerned, he wanted to be able to see his face.

“I… uh… have some anger management issues.” Kylo continued. “I suppose you’ve worked that out. I’ve never EVER raised my hand to anyone I was in a relationship with, not once. But when I was little the neighbour drowned a bag of farm kittens. So I attacked him with a plank full of nails. Everyone said I was dangerous. I spent years in therapy trying to get a handle on it. The kids at school said I was weird. Especially when I got to be really tall and, you know...”

He paused, gesturing to his shoulders as he sought for the right word.

“Broad?” Hux suggested, peering at him as he tried to gauge how much of Kylo’s bulk was skeletal rather than simply muscle. Hux wasn’t really clear on what this had to do with pornography but it was the longest he’d ever heard Kylo talk so he wasn’t about to interrupt him now.

“Yeah. I was skinny though. Leia wanted me to stay that way so people wouldn’t find me physically threatening. But they were beating me up. I didn’t like that. I didn’t want to fight back- I just wanted them to stop. So I started working out.” He lifted his free arm, curling it into a body builder pose as they passed under a street light. “It helps. When I get angry at stuff in the news I can go do pull ups or something until it goes away. And I guess I like the way I look. But… Well. I did a lot of stupid stuff after university. Fell in with people who wanted me to be the mindless thug. Suddenly people said they liked me and I believed them. I did what they wanted. One guy, this ancient hippy who called himself Snoke, he knew how to set me off. He’d make sure I was front and centre whenever the shit went down.”

He had paused again, the silence lasting much longer this time. He was just watching his feet as they walked and Hux wondered whether he’d lost the thread of his thoughts or just run out of steam.

“Kylo?” He prompted, after a moment or two.

There was no response.

He didn’t appear to be blinking. Hux was abruptly reminded of some of the soldiers he saw at the reunions he rarely bothered to attend, the thousand yard stare they’d get some times. He wondered exactly what Kylo had seen that he hadn’t been able to let go.  

Hux sped up his steps a little to move in front of Kylo and into his line of sight, squeezing his hand as he did so to avoid startling him. It was a little like dealing with a skittish animal and Hux wasn’t entirely sure he liked the comparison.

Kylo slowed to a halt and stared blankly at him for a few seconds before blinking.

“Sorry. I don’t like talking about that stuff.” He said absently, dropping his gaze to their hands, swinging them gently as he continued. “The DVDs, the actor, he’s… he’s built like me. But he’s _sweet_ . What you were saying about the faces and the posing: he doesn’t do that so much. There’s a lot of scenes where he seems genuinely kind and compassionate and… and _TENDER_ … and I want that. For years I was told I was just muscles and fists and… and rage. _That’s not me_. That’s a thing that’s in me and I’ve barely had any incidents since I started R.E.N. I know everyone thinks the Knights are ridiculous but they help me too, they believe in me.”

Standing there in the dark he looked so forlorn and somehow small that Hux found a lump forming in his throat when he tried to swallow. What exactly could he say to that?

“I couldn’t do what you do Hux, I know I couldn’t, but I don’t have to.” Kylo sighed. “I’m not sure I’m explaining it right but… I don’t know.”

Hux waited but that seemed to be it. The other man had finally run out of words. There wasn’t anything he could say that would do justice to Kylo’s revelations and perhaps it was better just to let them stand as they were.

“Come on, it’s late, we should get back,” he said, gently leading Kylo towards the R.E.N. building that was finally visible in the distance, looming up beside the road like a horror movie set piece. “I have a shift starting in seven hours, but if you want to umm… do this again next week…”

The look Kylo gave him could have illuminated a football pitch. Hux looked down, smiling and leaning his head against the warmth of Kylo’s unfairly muscular shoulder.

* * *

Just before he drove away Hux had given him a box. It was about a foot square, rattled, and came with no other explanation than a mumbled “here” as it was shoved into his hands. Kylo had tried to open it under the porch light but had been unable to find the edge of the sellotape holding it closed.

He wandered into the kitchen and set the box down next to one of the bird of prey incubators. The chicks had to be fed every two hours and Tanma Ren had drawn the short straw tonight.

“What’s that, boss?” He muttered sleepily, nodding towards the box whilst Kylo hunted for a knife to open it. Offended at being ignored for five seconds the long-eared owlet he’d been feeding nipped his fingers to remind him of his priorities.

Without looking up from his search Kylo passed him the first aid kit.

“Hux gave it to me when he left,” Kylo began, brandishing a pair of scissors with a look of triumph for a moment before bending to cut the tape. “I’ve no idea what’s ins… Oh…”

“Wow.”

Carefully Kylo lifted the glittering mass free from the tissue filled box and held it up to the light. It was a flower crown. Except instead of plants it was sculpted from silver and copper wires with the flowers themselves made from a variety of cogs and springs. He couldn’t even conceive of the work involved, the whole thing must have taken hours.

It was surprisingly light when he settled it into his hair. He fussed around for a minute, trying to take a halfway decent selfie in the dim light, a pleased grin splitting his face. And to think he’d thought Hux wasn’t into him.

 

* * *

Millicent hissed, tumbling across the duvet as Hux unexpectedly sat bolt upright in his bed. The alarm clock read 02:00AM.

“What the hell did he mean ‘I’ve been trying to work out how to ask you out for four years’?!?”

From her new position at the end of the bed Millicent gave him a look of disgust and pointedly went back to sleep. Humans were all ridiculous.


	5. Stables & Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: this chapter (and the next) deals with some pretty heavy abuse against horses. Please heed the tags and take care

Time passed quickly now that Hux had his weekly dates to look forward to; they were a welcome respite from his gruelling days in the field and lonely nights at home. Somewhere along the way they’d mutually agreed to take things slowly, much to the disbelief of the Knights, who’d collectively taken Hux’ extravagant gift as tantamount to a marriage proposal. Armitage didn’t see it as an especially impressive gift- he’d always been good with his hands and making the crown had been an entertaining few hours. Besides, watching Kylo strutting about with it glittering amongst his dark locks like some kind of pagan deity was immensely satisfying. 

For his part, Kylo formally adopted Saber and began to change the working practices of R.E.N. to make them more amenable to the First Order's officers, which of course meant more reasons to see Hux when he brought various wildlife into the centre. Hux swore it was a coincidence that his visits were always the last of his shift. It was only logical that he would then linger for coffee, or dinner, helping out here and there with the animals. It was a comfortable rhythm and neither man felt particularly inclined to challenge it. 

As the summer finally began to stretch the daylight hours, when their dates fell on nights when Hux didn't have work the next day, there were some evenings where they'd both indulge in a beer or two and Kylo would insist on walking Hux the four miles home. On those occasions, when the sky was painted purple and gold, they found themselves stopping regularly to indulge in long slow kisses in the shadows of the slowly returning foliage. And yet, Hux never invited Kylo up to his room and Kylo never seemed to expect it.

Sometimes Hux wondered what precisely had happened to make him so sentimental, but mostly he was too distracted by the peace he’d found with a man so notorious for his temper. 

* * *

“First Order Animal Welfare, you're speaking to Tia… madame, please, calm down…  _ Madame! _ I promise I will do everything I can to help you but I need you to take a breath and tell me where you are and  _ exactly _ what you’re seeing,” Thanisson said, in his best approximation of a soothing tone whilst he hunted for the red flag he kept in his drawer for just such emergencies. “I know you’re upset, but if you speak slowly I can take down all the details and get the right number of officers to you as soon as possible.”

Across the room Phasma looked up at the flash of red at the edge of her vision. She nudged Mitaka as she dragged her headset over her white blond hair and keyed herself into Thanisson’s call. He was usually extremely competent and rarely needed a supervisor’s help. Something had to be going on...

“They’re everywhere!!” The caller was a woman and it was immediately clear that she was doing her best to speak clearly through her tears. Of course, it wasn’t unusual for the public to get upset when they found injured animals but Phasma had the feeling this was really serious. “We were trying to cut across the fields to get to the Hosnian music festival, but we got lost and we… we saw this farm… and we thought maybe the farmer could tell us how to get back to the road. Only there’s no one here. I don’t think there’s been a farmer here for weeks. There’s a stable. A really big stable and it’s full of horses. You can see their ribs. Some of them have got no fur. And their feet. Oh god, I didn’t even know that hooves could look like that, they’re all curled up. But it’s the ones in the fields that are worse. Some of them are dead. Some of them are covered in flies but they’re not dead yet…”

The caller broke off, giving into a heart wrenching fit of sobbing. In the background people were shouting whilst Thanisson did his best to calm her down again so he could get some idea of where she was calling from. 

Mitaka was leaning over Phasma’s shoulder while she typed furiously, every one of the operation managers’ screens flashing red as she tried to reprioritise the workload of any available officer in that region.

“The Hosnian Festival is at a farm just outside Hux’ home town.” Mitaka offered as he read her notes. “He can get there fastest.”

“He’s just finishing his shift though.”

“Which means he’s probably already at the R.E.N. Centre or heading there now.” He said, sliding back behind his own desk and picking up his headset. “I can’t think of anyone more likely to know all the back routes into a rock festival than Kylo’s gang of Knights.”

* * *

Mitaka was right, between them the Knights had known exactly the set of farm buildings described by the caller, though they’d believed them to be abandoned that last time they’d been out in that area. They’d been dealing with a snared badger at the time and had seen no sign of movement from the property at all.

Hux had to agree with that assessment as he drove down the rutted and ill maintained access road. If it hadn’t been for the man in studded jeans and a heavy backpack waving from the side of the road he’d have seen no reason to stop there. No doubt the people responsible had intended it to be that way. 

From the road it simply looked like any other ramshackle ruin in that part of the countryside, but as he approached the smell began to grow. 

It was familiar, that horrible mix of rotten feed and composting dung with the undercurrent of death he associated with the worst kind of hoarding cases, but on a massive scale. 

There were four people waiting by the side wall of the stable, all clearly distressed and eager to leave. He felt sorry for them. They’d been expecting to enjoy a weekend of live music and they’d inadvertently walked into hell. 

One of them, possibly the one who’d made the original call, pointed out the route he should take around the building to find the animals in question. None of them were willing to go with him. 

A horse watched him disinterestedly from the first stall as he entered the yard, it’s emaciated head turning slightly to follow him. It might have been grey once but it was hard to tell amongst the scabs and filth covering its muzzle. The animal was wearing a green camouflage pattern coat that disguised much of its body but even at a distance it was clearly underweight. 

As he moved closer the smell worsened. Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket he did his best to tie it across his nose and mouth. Kylo had mocked him once for being old fashioned, but Hux found they worked well in situations like this, something he hoped Kylo would never have to find out. 

Once he was in the shadow of the building and his eyes had adjusted to the darkness inside the stall Hux realised that the ‘camouflage’ was actually a pattern of mould growing across the fabric of the coat mixed with stains that probably came from wounds underneath it. Leaning over the half-height door he peered down and found that the woman’s assessment of the animal’s feet had been correct. They were massively overgrown and it was frankly a miracle that the animal was still standing. 

Made nervous by his proximity the horse shifted uneasily, disturbing the unusually deep, rotten straw at its feet. A putrid miasma rolled out from the stall and Hux staggered back, swallowing hard as he fought not to vomit. There was a dead horse in there, under the straw. It looked like it had been there for weeks. Someone had just thrown more layers of straw over it.

Dragging his phone out of his pocket Hux rushed along the line of stalls, peering into each one as he tried to calculate the number of casualties whilst his fingers found the call button for Control. 

* * *

Phasma had never dealt with a call on this scale before- almost no one at the Centre had. It was exhausting work with a high burnout rate thanks to emotional nature of the cases they dealt with, so it was rare for people to stay more than a decade or so. The one or two old hands who did remember similar cases struggled to help with the logistics because the technology had progressed so much since then. There was nothing to do but stick to procedure as much as possible and make the rest up as they went along.

Hux had, in his initial five minute assessment, counted almost eighty sick, dead, or dying horses and ponies. He’d requested the police and anyone who could physically get to his location regardless of the region they were normally assigned to. So far Phasma had fifteen officers driving in from across the country but she knew it wouldn’t be enough. The nightshift were beginning to trickle in now and Mitaka had managed to recruit Finn into calling all the national equine charities and specialists he could think of. Meanwhile one of the newest team members- a tiny woman named Rey who kept smiling at Phasma in the most adorable way- had suggested borrowing floodlights from her foster father’s scrapyard. It was an idea Phasma would not thought of on her own but it almost had Hux weeping with relief when she mentioned it to him. Though no one but Mitaka and Phasma would have noticed the slight shake in his voice when he spoke.

Someone had once told Mitaka that the First Order was like a swimming swan, Control was the churning unseen under the water whilst the officers were the serene public face above. It was an analogy that had never been more true than it was right now. 

At the farm Hux was almost terrifyingly efficient. By the time the police and the first of the forensic support officers had arrived he’d already drawn up a map of the property and begun to prioritise the animals. 

The problem with any neglect case like this was the need to record everything as accurately as possible to ensure a conviction. That meant photographing each animal, not just their injuries but the conditions they were being kept in as well. It was hard in the face of all this suffering to resist the urge to start pulling animals out and trying to help their ailments immediately. But god only knew how long they’d already been there- a few more hours wouldn’t make a difference now. 

As the first of the equine vets arrived, closely followed by the grumbling Unkar Plutt with the lights that would help them work through the night, Hux was glad that none of Kylo’s Knights had any particular speciality with horses. If ever there was something that Kylo Ren should not see, it was this.

* * *

Ikvar Ren sat cross legged on the floor, gently removing the adolescent bat that had decided to take a nap by hanging from one of her dreadlocks and watching Kylo wear a groove in the tiles with his pacing.

“Boss, he went to a job.” She said soothingly. “You know that. It’s a horse job, you know what horses are like.”

He glared at her for a moment as he made a sharp turn and began pacing back down the room. Frankly it was starting to make her feel dizzy.

“It’s 6am. He said he’d text me when he was done. He hasn’t texted me.”

“He’s probably asleep. You should be asleep. I’d be asleep if it weren’t my turn to do the fee…”

“Guys!” Romon sang out as they thundered down the stairs. “Guys! I was just up on the roof and…”

“Why the fuck were you on the roof?” Ikvar cut in, horrified. 

“Don’t ask questions if the answers will only piss you off.” They said with a dismissive wave of their hand. “ _ Anyway,  _ I was up on the roof and you can just see through the gaps in the hills to that farm where Armitage went, and there’s like floodlights and police cars and about forty horse boxes. I thought it was the music festival at first, but Google Maps… Kylo?”

Kylo ran up the stairs, easily clearing three at a time with his long stride. His Knights shared a meaningful look.

“I’ll go wake everyone up shall I?” Romon sighed, heading up the stairs themselves. 

“I’ll get the van loaded. Oh, Rom?”

“Yeah?”

“ARMITAGE?!”

“I know!”


	6. Conflict & Resolution

It was nearly 7am. Hux had been awake for twenty five hours now, they’d worked through the night, and they were nowhere near done.

There weren’t enough people. There were never enough. It was worse than he’d calculated. Once they’d actually gotten into the stables- some of them more than knee deep in manure, straw, and things that didn’t bear thinking about- they’d found that there were nearly eighty animals still alive, while the actual total was approaching a hundred and fifty.

It was horrifying, soul crushing work. Every animal had to be photographed in situ, then moved out into the yard to be assessed and photographed again. They’d had to put some of them down on the spot, their condition so fragile and their injuries so bad that nothing could possibly be done for them. The rest were a logistical nightmare. Most equine charities were already perpetually oversubscribed, they struggled not just with space but funding for veterinary care and here was Hux with fifty seven surviving horses, all with complex needs. Control was doing its best to find spaces, to find anyone who would take on even one of these animals but progress was achingly slow.

No one at the First Order had even mentioned the cost yet. He could see the vets making notes on their phones but he couldn’t bear to think about it. Something this big could cripple them. Hell, this might be the end of his job.

He first noticed the newcomers as he crossed the yard after helping load a tired stallion that might have once have been racehorse into a volunteer’s horsebox. A large black van had pulled in the yard a few minutes before and had parked at the edge of the mass of official vehicles. He vaguely recognised it, but it was hidden behind another larger van so he gave it little thought. The second arrival was an ancient Land Rover, its paintwork entirely obscured by layers of dried mud. To say that it was being driven erratically would be an understatement.

Some part of his army training kicked in then because Hux stepped back out of the car’s path just seconds before it passed through the space he’d occupied with a screech of tires and a spray of yet more mud.

“WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! GET OFF OF MY LAND YOU THIEVING BASTARDS!!”

Hux could hear the pounding of feet across the wet ground behind him as every person on site converged on the shouting.

The men who piled out of the vehicle were familiar and Hux felt the bile rise in his throat as he recognised a local horse trader who’d always cooperated with the First Order in the past. But then Bala-Tik Vernal had never mentioned owning this property. He ran a respectable Equestrian Centre twenty miles away. Squaring his aching shoulders Hux held his ground, as the man stalked towards him.

His face had been red with fury when he first appeared but now that he’d noticed Hux his complexion was slowly turning grey. Clearly he’d thought he would be facing thieves and instead he was looking at a representative of one of the few organisations that could totally destroy his business.

“You!” He jabbed a finger at Hux’ chest. “What the fuck are you doing with my horses, you jumped up, nosey little prick?!”

Hux sneered. Somewhere to his left an exhausted police officer was shouting in the distance but neither of them moved.

“I’m trying to save what’s left of them, sir.”

“You can tell that to my fucking lawyers! These animals are my private property! What you are doing is theft.”

“I’m sure those police officers would be happy to discuss that wit…”

“Fuck the police, I’m discussing it with you, Hux!” Bala-Tik spat as he lunged suddenly forward.

Hux was so exhausted that he could nothing but stare at the flash of light along the blade in the other man’s hand. There were literally fifty witnesses standing all around them, surely no one could be stupid enough to stab someone so blatantly in front of this many witnesses. Perhaps the man had decided he had nothing left to lose. His secret was out and his professional life would soon be in ruins.

There was a tussle.

Someone screamed.

From his position in the stinking mud Hux could only blink stupidly up at Kylo where the man stood panting, the horse dealer’s now broken arm clutched in his hands. The unused knife dropped to the ground with a mundane squelch.

There was silence for a moment. And then all hell broke loose.

* * *

How Bala-Tik’s four cronies had imagined that they could take on a crowd of that size Hux would never understand. It’d had taken only a couple of minutes for the police to subdue them with the aid of Kylo’s Knights and a lot of very angry First Order officers. All they gained for themselves was multiple assault charges and a few broken bones. Surprisingly none of them were caused by Kylo Ren.

Once the police had wrestled Hux’ attacker to the ground Kylo had simply turned and walked away towards the stable blocks, his hands visibly trembling by his sides.

There hadn’t been a chance to go after him right away and by the time Hux had managed to drag himself up from the dirt he was nowhere to be seen. Of course then the police had wanted to take his statement while more officers arrived to take the battered suspects away.

The knife had actually torn the front of his shirt and Hux had no wish to think about exactly how close he’d come to being eviscerated.

All he wanted to do was find his… whatever Kylo was… his boyfriend? He didn’t know. He just knew he needed to find him. Then go home. Take a shower. Eat something, anything. Sleep.

Staring around at all the horses they still hadn’t dealt with Hux knew there was little chance of achieving anything other than the first one.

He was crouching against a wall at the back of one of the empty stalls when Hux found him. He’d never seen him looking so small, despite the thickness of his arms where they were wrapped so tightly over his head.

“Kylo?” He said softly, trying not to startle the man who looked like he was on the brink of a total breakdown.

“I’m sorry.” The reply was muttered in a voice so broken Hux wanted to scream.

“For what? Saving my life? He was millimetres away from my chest when you stopped him.”

Kylo raised his head and stared at him. “I didn’t want to be that person any more.”

“You’re not. There were five of them but you still walked away once you’d neutralised the immediate threat. You know, the man who tried to kill me.”

“I’m not safe.”

“Fuck safe.” Hux spat as he moved forward into the stall, doing his best not to disturb potential evidence. “I’ve spent the entire night feeling like I’m on the doorstep of hell and if I weren’t wearing this uniform I promise you I’d have snatched that knife out of the dirt, Kylo, and I’d’ve stuck it in his fucking eye. You did what was necessary and then you stopped. I know it hurts but you did a _good_ thing, pleas…”

“STOP.” Kylo said suddenly, leaning forward towards the rotten hay in front of Hux’ boots.

“What?”

There was no response as Kylo dug frantically through the mess, his eyes suddenly bright and wide.

Confused Hux crouched down to help and as his perspective shifted he realised there was the body of a pony at his feet.

A pony and its foal.

Carefully he touched the mother’s flank. She was cold, but not too… He turned to Kylo who was dragging the tiny, skinny, but somehow miraculously _alive_ foal into his arms, trying to wrap it in his shirt to keep it warm.

How, in all this misery, had this little one managed to survive half buried under the straw while the rescue effort went on blindly around it?

The foal snorted. Kylo grinned. Hux sprang to his feet and ran into the yard, shouting for the nearest available vet.

* * *

Forty three hours. It had taken forty three hours to clear the site. Which meant that Hux had been awake for nearly fifty five hours. The last of the police cars disappeared around a hedge and suddenly the energy that had kept him functioning deserted him. He could feel his eyeballs every time he blinked. He felt like his brain was floating several feet above and to the left of his head.

Warm arms wrapped around his middle. They tugged him back against a firm chest and he could think of no reason to object to such treatment.

“Hey. Hux. Come on now.” The voice was deep and rich and rumbled pleasantly against his back. He’d have done anything for that voice. “It’s done. It’s finished. You can rest now. Come home. Get some sleep.”

“Is’too’far.” He slurred, shaking his head.

 

“You know, if you moved into the R.E.N. Centre with me you’d get home a lot quicker.” Kylo said with a chuckle.

Kylo smelled nice, Hux thought. He’d been able to go home. He’d taken their miraculous foal away with his ridiculous Knights and he’d been able to have a shower. And sleep.

Hux would have quite liked some sleep. And a shower. He didn’t smell nice.

A tiny part of his brain that was still conscious nudged the rest of his sleep addled mind.

“Are you asking me to move in with you before you’ve even fucked me?”

Behind him Kylo howled with laughter.

“Well, I can fuck you now if you insist.” He snorted.

Hux frowned thoughtfully.

"Nah. Sleep first. Then shower. Then you can fuck me."

The noise Kylo made sounded a bit like he'd swallowed his tongue.

“An’ I’m only going to move in if Millicent likes it. Otherwise you move in with me.” Hux said, waving his arm a little unsteadily.

“I’ll ask you again in the morning. When you’re not delirious.”

“Promise?”

Kylo kissed his neck and lead him gently back towards his van.

“Promise.”

* * *

“Oh god…” Hux groaned, stretching so hard he thought he might tear his joints apart. “What time is it?”

Kylo placed a mug of tea on the nightstand closest to Hux and sat down on the edge of the bed against his knees.

“Just after ten.”  

“What day?”

“Thursday.” Kylo smiled when Hux gaped at him. He’d left the site on Tuesday, he was sure.

“You looked like you needed at least a day of sleep and Control told me to make you take a week off. You can stay here if you want, meet Starkiller, or…” Kylo paused, his thick fingers picking at the edge of the blanket. “...I can give you a ride home…”

“Ah ah, no. I remember our agreement. You asked me to live with you.”

“You remember that?”

“Yep.” Hux said, primly sipping his drink, his lips quirking as he tried not to smile too much. Clearly getting some rest at last was making him feel bold. “Well, I’ve slept. If you’ll let me finish my tea first you can join me in the shower and finalise the deal.”

It was Kylo’s turn to gape, his jaw hanging slack as his eyebrows rose towards his hairline. “Hux…”

“Life’s too short, Kylo. I love you. The last few months have been wonderful but I think it’s time.”

“I love you too.” It was hardly even a sigh as Kylo leaned in to kiss him, but Hux heard him all the same.

They sat for only a moment- foreheads pressed together and staring into one another’s eyes- before Hux wrinkled his nose.

“Shower. Now. I’m disgusting.”

Kylo decided it was safer not to comment as he followed the redhead into the en-suite.

“Kylo, who or what is ‘Starkiller’?”

“Our pony.” He laughed as he closed the door.

“You’re not allowed to name the kids.”

“What?!”

Hux’ laughter was almost drowned out by the shower starting. Rolling his eyes Kylo kissed him and backed him up under the spray.

Life’s too short.

But some things are worth waiting for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here ends the main thread of the story. Thanks for reading! Come back at the weekend for the epilogue :D


	7. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *points at additional tags*
> 
> Did you think I wouldn't?

Hux couldn't quite believe he was doing this as he led Kylo into the bathroom, teasing banter covering his nerves. It wasn't that he didn't want to, he did, he absolutely did. But they had fallen into such an easy routine. To be breaking that now? It felt thrilling and frightening by turns.

And yet he felt lighter somehow. The last few days had been hell on earth, but he'd woken up to Kylo's smile and the prospect of being able to wake up to it every morning for the rest of his life... Wait what?

His laughter turned into a gasp as Kylo shoved him back under the spray of the shower, derailing his train of thought. He was still in his boxers!

Hux was about to object when Kylo stepped forward, kissing him soundly. Although the water from the ancient boiler was beginning to warm, the tiles behind his back were still cold. Instinctively he flinched away, pressing himself tighter to Kylo's front. He could feel repressed laughter vibrating through the chest under his fingers. Kylo hadn't shifted against his weight, as solid and immoveable as a statue. And what a statue.

Renaissance sculptors would have snapped their chisels in half to get their hands on a specimen like Kylo Ren.

Breaking the kiss, Hux leaned back a little as he realised there was fabric, not skin, beneath his fingers.

While Hux had been too exhausted to do more than strip down to his underwear before falling asleep, Kylo had been up and about for a while now and had, until a moment ago, been neatly dressed in a button down shirt and slim jeans. Now the spray of the shower was making his shirt transparent where it clung to his muscles and his jeans were quickly following suit.

Unconsciously Hux licked his lips as his fingers traced across the unreasonable muscular pecs, circling the dark puffy nipples that were clearly visible through the pale fabric. He moaned slightly when they instantly stiffened, peaking against his fingerpads at the slightest contact. Who knew Kylo could be so responsive. The possibilities... Quietly his mind presented him with a suggestion for another area that might be just as eager.

He tried to lean back further to get a look, unwilling to move his hands from the wonderful chest that was currently blocking his view, but Kylo followed him. Hux groaned as two hot hands spread across his back, pulling him close. They were huge. Hell, they could probably circle his waist. He hoped he'd find out.

Kylo kissed him again. It was perfect. His tongue was insistent against his lips as Kylo rolled his hips. Hux grinned and opened his mouth, one leg snaking around to hook over Kylo's calf. He'd been right, the rest of Kylo was just as responsive. His cock felt like it was already fully hard where it strained against the wet denim of Kylo's jeans, but Hux vividly remembered how large it had been. He suspected there would be more to come, once it was freed.

His own cock was showing an interest, slowly filling as Kylo rutted against him, the buttons of his fly unexpectedly stimulating though Hux' soaked boxers. But anxiety was creeping in.

It's reedy voice was whispering dire warnings at the prospect of taking a cock of such length and girth after six years of abstinence. He'd told the truth, he didn't watch porn or even particularly masturbate. Things he had enjoyed in an established relationship had fallen by the wayside in the name of his work and honestly he hadn't missed them until now.

As if reading his mind Kylo's hand slid gently down to ease under the waistband of his boxers and squeeze his ass.

Surging up on his toes Hux wrapped his arms around Kylo's neck. Kylo hummed, kneading the flesh in his hand and urging the leg around his calf to raise higher.

"I... I don't want to spoil the mood," Kylo murmured against his lips, his hips barely pausing in their pattern of long slow rolls. "But have you been tes..."

"Last month. It's part of the health assessment. All clear." Hux said, matter-of-factly. His leg was around Kylo's waist now and the man's blunt finger was teasing the top of his crack. If anything he was pleased with himself at managing a lucid sentence. "You?"

"Same. It's been a year since I was last with anyone but better to be safe..."

"Six."

"Hmm?"

"It's been six years for me." Hux said quietly, his whole body tensing as Kylo froze.

"Are you sure you want to..."

"Yes."

"Let me know if you need to sto..."

Hux sighed, twining his fingers into Kylo's hair to ensure he looked at him.

"If I want you to stop I'll say so but I want to do this. We have all day if necessary." He said. "Please." He added as an afterthought.

Kylo grinned and slid his hand further down, making Hux twitch and tighten his grip in Kylo's hair.

Suddenly his nose wrinkled, offended at the smell of himself. "Sorry, I do actually _need_ to shower first, you know." He said, pulling away.

Or rather he tried to, but Kylo held him fast, his limbs as unyielding as the statues he so closely resembled. "How about I clean your back and then you can do your front while I open you up for me?"

He couldn't explain why but that turn of phrase had his knees trembling and his hands twisting in Kylo's hair of their own accord. He'd usually done that for himself in the past, his other partners too intent on their own pleasure to take the time. What had Kylo said all those months ago when they first kissed? He wanted to be tender? Well this was certainly the opportunity, and he'd know better than Hux what it might take to get a cock that size inside of him.

While he nodded and kissed his acceptance of the suggestion against Kylo's lips the shrinking voice of doubt returned. It whispered terrible things about coming prematurely across the tiles at the slightest touch of Kylo's hands, or the humiliation of not being able to take those thick blunt fingers at all. But as those very same fingers eased down the back of his boxers and began kneading soap across the small swell of his ass he found it easy to dismiss the warnings. He'd just told Kylo they had all day and he'd meant it. He'd rather come five times and end the day shaking with overstimulation than go to sleep without knowing how to felt to have Kylo's come seeping out of his well used hole.

His cock sprang free of his boxers just as that uncharacteristically filthy thought crossed his mind and he almost came at the sensation.

Kylo chuckled lightly as Hux dropped a hand to his cock, squeezing the base with a little too much vigour.

"You can come if you want. Take the edge off." He said, squeezing his ass as Hux lowered his leg and backed off slightly.

"I know that," he snapped. "I don't want to right now."

He slowly turned his back as Kylo wet a cloth and worked it to a lather. Kylo looked so incongruous there, his huge frame filling the space, hair and clothes clinging to every contour of his body. Hux swore he could see the pulse in the underside vein of Kylo's cock through his jeans. How he could stand the restriction was baffling.

"Don't you want to get undressed?" He asked as he braced his hands against the tile.

"No," Kylo murmured. His hands were on the back of his thighs now, impossibly gentle as they worked soft circles against the paper thin skin. "No, it's helping me keep control. I don't know how often we'll do this and I want the first time to be as good as possible... for both of us."

There was a click and warm slick spilled down Hux' crack. Kylo's fingers caught it and began to rub teasing strokes around his hole while his other hand continued to soap his back.

"What do you mean?" Hux asked with a sigh as he willed himself to relax. "I said I'd live with you."

"And?" Kylo's fingertip twitched inward as he pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "Just because you're living with someone doesn't mean you have to have sex with them if you're not feeling it."

Hux stared at the tiles, half intent on the sensation of Kylo's thick finger easing against the ring of muscle while his brain failed to parse what had just been said. He'd never been _forced_ into anything but well, most men had a certain reaction to sharing a bed and it had always seemed simplest to oblige.

"Hux?"

Kylo had stopped. Why had Kylo stopped?

Hux whined, reaching back to press Kylo's hand closer, his legs spreading as he arched his back to offer easier access.

"Hux, have you..."

"Kylo, please. I want you. Why are we having this conversation now?"

There was a sigh behind him. Suddenly Kylo was plastered against his back, from his lips at the nape of his neck to the massive feet framing his own.

"Because enthusiastic consent is my biggest turn on. Because I want to wake up with you and cuddle you on the sofa and sit you on my lap at dinner without you thinking everything is a come on or that I expect more than you can give."

"And who are you going to sleep with when I'm 'not feeling it'?" Hux said softly, resting his forehead on the tile.

"You might not have noticed," kylo said, the hand clutching the soapy cloth snaking around to press against the soft flesh of Hux' stomach, "but I have pretty big hands. And a _lot_ of DVDs. Also the Internet is a thing that exists. I promise you I can take care of myself. If you want to help but not take part, great. If you want me to keep it private, fine. Whatever you want."

Hux tipped his head back onto Kylo's shoulder, breathing hard as Kylo kissed along his collarbone and up his throat. His mouth was so hot and his hands felt so good...

"Thank you," he said in a trembling voice, his fingers twining with Kylo's on his stomach. "What I want _right now_ is your fingers in me until I'm ready to take your cock. I want nothing more, _right now_ , than to feel you come in me."

Behind him Kylo groaned, his voice so low his abs seemed to rumble against the small of Hux's back. With the slightest change in pressure the maddening fingertip that had been teasing him finally breached the ring of muscle, sinking easily to the second knuckle.

"We can take things day by day." Hux continued. "But _right now_ I don't want you to stop."

He turned his face to kiss Kylo and lost himself for a while in the slow slide of tongues over teeth and soft lips. Kylo's free hand returned to washing every part of Hux' body he could reach whilst his finger eased slowly in and out of his hole, flexing and twisting as he urged the muscle to relax.

Briefly his hand drifted towards Hux' pubic hair but was halted by a hum and a gentle hand on his wrist. Nipping apologetically at his lips Hux redirected it to rest on his chest. Tentative touches to his nipples were rewarded with passionate kisses and soon they were being pinched and twisted each time Kylo's finger bottomed out.

A second fingertip was tracing around his hole now and Hux couldn't help smiling against Kylo's mouth in anticipation.

Gently he took the cloth from Kylo's hand, scrubbing at his arms and ribs for a moment before, in moment of unexpected flexibility, he raised his left foot up to his right hip bone. The movement stretched his ass wider allowing the second fingertip to slip in with ease. Kylo hadn't anticipated the change and his fingers sank in completely drawing a litany of swear words from both their lips.

"Holy fuck that's hot," Kylo murmured scissoring his fingers against Hux' velvety walls and desperately running through latin species names in an attempt to get his own straining cock under control.

Hux looked at him, a small devious smile on his face. When he was sure he had Kylo's full attention he placed his hand on his knee and slowly raised his shin towards chest.

"Oh my god."

With a snort Hux began to casually soap his foot, ignoring the way the man behind him trembled. He was being stretched so wonderfully, his nerves singing with every flex of Kylo's fingers.

With one foot finished he shifted slightly, intending to raise the other leg, but instead he changed the angle of the fingers inside him just enough to graze his prostate. Suddenly he was seeing stars.

"Oh, fuck, Kylo!" He hissed, precome pulsing slowly to drip in long strings towards the floor. "Do that again and I won't last."

"Is that a warning or a request?" Kylo said with a chuckle.

Hux reached back and tried to slap his ass with the cloth but that only made him laugh louder. Pouting, he pulled his other leg up.

Kylo stopped abruptly with a choking noise and renewed his efforts, focusing more on stretching that stimulation as he added a third finger. Despite his efforts, Hux bit his fist at the intrusion, blinking as his eyes watered. Kylo's fingers were much larger than his own. The lube was thick enough to smooth the rough callouses from outdoor work but he could still feel them tugging at the rim with every thrust and the stimulation was almost unbearable.

He forced himself to relax against the burn, focusing on scrubbing his skin rather than on the slow drag and twist of the three thick fingers inside him. He'd never needed this many before, or rather perhaps he'd needed them but his partners hadn't been sizeable enough for the stretch to be intolerable without. But Kylo knew what he was doing. Hux accepted that, as torturously slow as this might seem, it was necessary.

Behind him Kylo shifted his hand, muttering under his breath as he moved back.

"Can you brace your knee in the corner of the wall for me?" He said as he sank to his knees. His wet jeans made the movement awkward but Hux didn't notice as he silently complied. He was too taken by the image of Kylo sinking down to the level of his ass to think about the lack of grace in the movement.

Swallowing hard, Hux tore his eyes away and reached for the shampoo. There was a click again and more lube slicking his ass.

He could still see out the corner of his eye that Kylo was watching him, staring intently as Hux worked his hair into a lather. Slowly he leant forward, pressing a kiss to the curve of Hux' spine and suddenly there were four fingers in him.

Hux almost tore his hair out as he spasmed at the intrusion. It was too much, far too much as Kylo rotated his hand, flexing his fingers to their widest reach before folding them in and slowly withdrawing them. Kylo's arm wrapped around his waist as the other man stood, pressing against his back again and murmuring praise in his ear.

"Was that entirely necessary?" Hux gasped, willing his fingers to release so he could finish washing his hair. His ass felt odd without Kylo's fingers and the emptiness seemed to crawl deep into him, like every second without a part of Kylo inside him was a loss.

Kylo snorted slightly and stepped back more fully under the spray, pulling Hux with him a little before he stepped away.

The water was cooling now. Without Kylo's heat against his back Hux found himself shaking slightly as he rinsed his hair. The drop in temperature did give him the chance to surreptitiously wash his genitals and scrub through the matted mess of ginger hair without the risk of coming. Why this felt embarrassing when Kylo had just had almost half his hand inside him he couldn't say, but he kept his back turned despite the soft sounds of Kylo washing his hands and peeling the soaking wet shirt from his torso.

The shower stopped.

Silence.

A delicate touch of a fingertip under his chin turned Hux like he was following a magnet. Hazel eyes raked down his body before Kylo met his gaze with a soft adoring smile.

"You're so beautiful," he sighed quietly before reaching for his fly.

Hux watched transfixed. His tongue worried at the thin, faded scar dividing his lip as Kylo's thick clever fingers opened the buttons a little slower than strictly necessary.

The blush was back. The tantalising deep pink tinge spread down Kylo’s chest and across his abs at he sighed of relief.

Suddenly bold, Hux stepped forward. His hands shook a little as they reached into Kylo's jeans, easing his cock free before Kylo awkwardly shoved the sticky wet denim down. He shifted from side to side, trying to kick them off but Hux was too fascinated with the weight of him in his palm to notice.

He hadn't misremembered. Kylo was exactly as large as he'd thought and rapidly hardening further under even his tentative touches. Perhaps all that preparation hadn't been excessive. Experimentally he tightened his grip. He could feel the pulse stutter against his palm. Slowly he stroked towards the tip, drawing Kylo’s foreskin up to catch the precome beading at his slit.

“That feels fucking fantastic!”

Finally free of his jeans Kylo caught Hux' face in his hands and, with a grin of triumph, kissed him soundly.

With a muffled moan Hux sank into it like a man on fire finding a pool of water. There was almost nothing he wanted more than what he had now. Kylo's tongue was thick, warm and insistent where it grazed over his teeth and traced his palette. He could feel himself being guided back, stumbling slightly over the edge of the shower tray and unsteady on the cold floor tiles. Nothing matter by the tongue in his mouth and the body under his hands.

Kylo's hands ran gently down Hux' arms, tracing along his sides before they smoothed over his backside and squeezed. That and the tensing of Kylo's muscles was the only warning before Hux was hauled up into the air.

Instinctively he wrapped his legs around Kylo's waist and brought his hands up to clutch at his powerful shoulders.

It was exhilarating.

He could feel the bunching and shifting of Kylo's muscles under his fingers as the man buried his nose into the side of his neck, but holding him aloft seemed effortless. He locked his ankles together, better securing himself to free his hands.

Slowly he carded through long wet hair drawing out a rumble of approval and teeth that traced the tendons in his neck until he squirmed.

Kylo froze.

Smiling slightly Hux wriggled again. The head of Kylo's cock nudged his ass for a second time and he grinned. Twining the fingers of one hand firmly into Kylo's hair Hux reached back with the other to guide the freely leaking glans against his hole.

Kylo began to murmur an objection but stopped short, his words swallowed up by a moan as the tip easily breached the well prepared muscle.

In his arms Hux sighed and flexed his hips. The change in angle and the assistance of gravity was enough for the head to slip inwards with a slow stretch that had Hux rolling his eyes back. He could feel himself clenching against the intrusion- not so much his body objecting as a test of its limits. It felt wonderful. He wanted more.

Kylo groaned, overstimulated, and the slight twitch of his hips was enough to tug the flared head against the fluttering ring of muscle. They swore, gasping into each other's necks when they both moved at the divine sensation, Hux pressing down as Kylo instinctively bucked up.

Fingers scrabbling at Kylo's shoulders Hux mewled and whimpered. He'd been half filled in a single movement and it wasn't nearly enough.

"Hux? Are you... Are you okay? Do you need me to... Ah FUCK!" Kylo said, his concerned tones cut off by a surprised cry of pleasure as Hux rolled his hips again,  dropping himself down to take another inch.

It took real effort for Kylo to arch back, away from the soft skin of Hux' neck to look at his face, but he knew it was worth it when Hux dropped his head to meet his gaze.

His green eyes were half glazed, the lids drooping and flickering with every tiny movement of Kylo's cock inside him. His lips, swollen from biting, mouthed a litany of what Kylo suspected might be his name, while, still wet from the shower, his usually pale skin was flushed and impossibly lovely. He looked amazing.

Kylo pulled him down another inch. Hux sobbed and clutched at Kylo’s shoulders, scratching mindlessly at his skin as he tried not to hide his face. Kylo was staring at him with such open hunger it was only right that he get to see precisely what he was doing to him. Yet another inch and all Hux could do was bite his lips, breathing hard through his nose. Every shift of his ribs, every breath was driving him just that little further onto Kylo’s cock and nothing had ever felt this overwhelming in his entire life. Somehow he was certain he was both full to bursting and desperate for more.

One blunt finger eased out from the steel tight grip on his ass to trace the place where they were joined. The taught, grasping muscle relax a little more at the caress.

"Nearly there." Kylo murmured. "You're doing so well."

Hux flexed impatiently at the comment, his breath hitching in frustration.

With a slightly tremulous grin Kylo shifted his grip, wrapping his arms around Hux' waist as he curled his hips up.

"Yes!" Hux shouted at the ceiling as they finally bottomed out, Kylo's smooth waxed skin tight against his ass.

Kylo managed a broken chuckle. With a hesitant touch he pulled Hux flush to him again, settling his head against his shoulder and tracing patterns across his back as they both got use to the sensations.

“You’re beautiful,” he said after a moment, “you’re beautiful and so damn perfect I sometimes wonder if I’m going to wake up from a dream.”

Hot breath puffed against his ear at Hux’ dismissive snort. “How can someone like you, someone built like you say I’m… any of that?”

The sound Kylo made was like a wounded animal.

Tightening his arms Kylo turned them towards the door and carried Hux swiftly into the bedroom. His stride was halting and uneven thanks to Hux’ slick heat tightening around his length, every twitch a temptation for Kylo to fuck up into him sooner than he’d planned.

Hux sobbed and begged and keened into the his neck as each step drove Kylo’s cock harder into his prostate. Finally he screamed out his name when he was awkwardly lowered to the edge of the bed, the change in angle impossibly increasing Kylo’s depth within him.

With breathtaking slowness Kylo eased his bulk onto the mattress. Kylo slid Hux slowly up across the surprisingly clean sheets as he crawled into a kneeling position, Hux’ slim hips held tight in his lap by hands that Hux was delighted to realise did encircle his waist.

Watching Kylo’s progress with lidded eyes Hux tried to stifle the noises pulled from him with even the slightest movement. Looking down the length of his own body toward the obscenely wide spread of his own thighs he could see how flushed they both were, their skin glistening with sweat and the water still dripping from Kylo’s hair. Both their stomachs were smeared with precome and a pool of it was quickly forming where his cock bobbed and jerked over his stomach. Clenching his fists into the sheets he fought the urge to touch, certain that the slightest stimulation would break the orgasm hovering at the edge of his awareness.

“I love you.” Kylo said suddenly, his fingers kneading into the flesh of Hux’ soft sides, his thumbs ghosting across his stomach. “I love every part of you. I don’t want someone built like me. Someone hard on the outside but soft and broken inside.”

Hux bit his lip against the need to whimper as the fingers began to trace up and down, gently petting his skin while Kylo’s hips rolled almost imperceptibly.

“I love your soft stomach and your sharp hip bones,” Kylo continued, tracing over these elements as his hands ran down and then slowly pressed back up, cataloguing each feature as he spoke. “I love your delicate frame. I love that I can capture your whole torso with one arm, that I can circle your arms with my fingers. I love the slender line of your shoulders, the knife edge of your cheekbones, the soft curve of your jaw.”

Reaching up to follow Hux’ jawline with his thumb Kylo folded in the middle, resting his head on Hux’ sternum. The thrusts of his hips were slowly gathering speed and Hux was trembling not to spoil the mood by crying out.

He soon failed when Kylo’s tongue darted out to twist around his nipple. Hux howled.

Desperate hands reached up to clutch at Kylo’s wrists with a punishing grip whilst Hux snapped and bucked in his lap. He couldn’t gain enough leverage to fuck himself as he might wish, suddenly overwhelmed with the need to move and too well pinned to do so.

A growl broke through the teeth that nipped once at Hux’ chest and then Kylo was surging forward. His hips forcing Hux’ own up off the bed as he somehow found another quarter inch to drive deeper into his ass. Pressing hard he folded Hux further in on himself, forcing a stream of sobs and moans from his lips.

They were eye to eye now, though Hux struggled to keep his vision clear of tears at the startling, wonderful burn of Kylo’s girth stretching him so deeply.

“I love you.” Kylo said, his lips punctuating each sentence with a kiss against a different part of the wrecked and tear streaked face beneath him. “I love you. I love your mind. I love your heart that will take a punch or a knife just to end something else’s suffering. I love the creativity that flows from your fingers. I love the stability your voice gives me when all I can hear is the howling in my mind. I love you and I don’t ever want you to doubt that. Do you hear me?”

 

Hux stared at him, wide eyed and panting, for a long moment before he realised anything was required from him other than to be overwhelmed by the sensation flooding his skin and the adoration being poured into his ears by the man still shallowly thrusting inside him.

He tried to speak and groaned instead. How Kylo could be so coherent was a mystery. Blinking hard he nodded emphatically, accepting that his voice was lost for now.

Kylo grinned. “Good. So… can I fuck you properly now?”

Baring his teeth Hux tried to clench down Kylo’s cock. The thrusting stopped.

“Say it. Please.”

He couldn’t. Every time he opened his mouth he couldn’t get anything past his tongue but whimpers.

“Come on Hux, you can say it.”

Holding Kylo’s gaze he tugged at his right hand, pointedly guiding it down to his cock while he arched up to press a kiss to his lips.

He could feel the smile forming as Kylo leant down to return the kiss, massive fingers curling gently around his cock. Arching his back further Hux reached over his head to grip the edge of the mattress, moaning with the stretch of his torso and the sinful weight inside him. He clenched again.

Kylo whimpered and dropped his head down to his shoulder, his hips still unmoving. He needed this, Hux realised as he tipped his head to look at him.

“Fuck me.” He mouthed against Kylo's cheek. Still unable to enunciate when Kylo drew back and snapped his hips forward Hux found he couldn't stop the flow of silent words spoken into the void and burned into Kylo’s flesh. “I love you. Make me yours. Fuck me. Claim me. I love you. I'll never leave you. I'll never need anything but you. You’re wonderful. You're magnificent. I love you.”

The pace was sharp and fast, just jarring enough to keep his orgasm at bay. It wouldn't last. The brushes against his prostate were the perfect counterpoint to the loose grip around his cock. Above him he could feel the tensing and shaking of Kylo’s muscles, overwhelmed at once now that he had free reign to fuck him as he pleased.

He knew he was a sweat soaked, tear streaked mess, precome smearing across them as his heels scrabbled first at the bed and then at Kylo’s back as he fought for leverage.

Abruptly Kylo arched up. His free hand grabbed Hux’ leg and pushed it up towards his chest.

Hux finally found his voice when Kylo hooked his calf over his broad straining shoulder, stretching Hux impossibly wide.

“Oh god, Kylo! Yes, please, oh Kylo!” He rambled. “Kylo, please!”

“Please what?” Kylo groaned against his hair.

“Come in me!”

Kylo tightened his hand, drawing his hips back as far as he dared. “Come for me Hux, I want us to…” His voice wavered with tension. “... together. Please.”

“Yes.”

He'd barely finished the syllable when Kylo slammed forward, driving Hux’ cock into his fist as he settled hard against his prostate. The hot wet pulse of Kylo’s release pushed Hux over the edge, thick white strands splattering up both their chests and his thigh where Kylo held it captive.

Silence returned to the room at last. It was a warm companionable quiet, broken only by muted gasps and panted breaths where they melted slowly against one another.

Carefully Kylo released Hux’ leg, rubbing his massive palms along his thigh to encourage the blood flow as he rolled them onto their sides.

Hux threw his head back and whimpered as Kylo’s softening length began to slip out of him. He followed its lead, curling himself around Kylo’s torso to rest his head against his chest. After a moment it finally left him, a thin stream of come running down the cease of his thigh as his hole tried feebly to clench and hold him in place. He could feel overwrought tears running down his nose to drip onto Kylo’s chest.

He'd slept for a day and a half and now all he wanted to do was sleep again. Eyelids sagging, Hux rubbed soothing circles across the abs beneath him, trying to convey the fact that- he was fine, more than fine, he was fucked out and aching and cooling seed was still flowing down his thighs and he'd never felt more complete in all his life. The only thing more wonderful would be if Kylo would marry him and that was a long way off.

“Do…” Kylo began, his voice failing for a moment before he began again. “Do you know you're talking out loud?”

“No I’m not.”

“The answer is yes by the way.”

“Good,” Hux said with a yawn, his limbs settling heavier when Kylo wrapped his arms around his shoulders. “Mine.”

“Yours.”


End file.
